As they glided on their bikes up to the front entrance of Riverside School Tuesday morning, Charlie and Hugo Cassar marked the end of a long journey.

The brothers' trip on two wheels, with their mother, Nicole, took only minutes. But about a month before, they traveled more than 3,000 miles from their former home near Oxford, England, to their new residence in Greenwich.

Despite their new surroundings, second-grader Charlie and first-grader Hugo were calm, quietly checking their backpacks for all their school essentials as they awaited the first bell.

"This is their first day at school, so lots of new friends," Nicole said.

Already, they had heard about the Parade of Learners, a first-day tradition at Riverside that celebrates the new school year with a procession along Learners Lane, the thoroughfare running through the front lawn up to the school building.

"This parade is quite new for us," Nicole said. "It's good for us, but not something we do in England at all. It's quite exciting to be here on the first day."

"It's a beautiful school," said their father, Yann. "And we're very happy to meet new neighbors."

Like the Cassar brothers, fourth-grader Marie and second-grader Diego were soft-spoken, but still shared their excitement about their new school.

"I'm looking forward to learning," said Marie. "And I like music a lot."

Around 8:45 a.m., with students congregated on the front lawn with their new teachers and classmates, Riverside Principal Christopher Weiss heralded the start of the 2013-14 school year by ringing a bell that echoed across the Hendrie Avenue campus.

Teachers led their classes along Learners Lane into Riverside's red-brick edifice, as parents lined the lane, cheering their children and documenting the event with a full complement of smartphones and cameras.

In the classroom, the approximately 500 students at Riverside will take on a forward-looking curriculum. The school district this year is piloting a $1.2 million digital learning program at Riverside and Hamilton Avenue schools, which education officials plan to eventually expand to all the district's schools. Weiss noted the initiative ties in with the school's 2013-14 theme: innovation.

Four miles northwest, a similarly ebullient scene unfolded at a welcoming ceremony for students at North Street School.

"We started together as a community," said Jill Flood, North Street's principal. "And we started with great energy and enthusiasm."

Flood is in her first year as North Street's principal, having previously served as assistant principal at Hamilton Avenue School. Her promotion marks a homecoming: Flood was a teacher at North Street for seven years.

"I don't want to assume anything," she said. "I want to relearn everything with a fresh perspective, so I can really get to know the school community."

The personnel changes mark a year of transition and major new undertakings in a district that educates close to 9,000 students. In 2013-14, the school system will fully implement the Common Core State Standards, a national initiative that will affect English/language arts and math curricula and incorporate a new online standardized test.

The district has also changed its teacher evaluation plan to align it with a new state mandate, the System for Educator Evaluation and Development. With the modified framework, student performance will now play a crucial role in teacher evaluations.

"There are high expectations for the students this year in academics and behavior," Beinstein said Tuesday afternoon. "If you're successful in middle school, you're probably going to be successful in high school. And we're going to give them a lot of support."

As it seeks to raise student achievement, Western is launching new homework clubs and academic support programs, with the latter intended for students not meeting goal standards in academic performance.

Four miles east, Central Middle School Principal Shelley Somers reported a successful first day. She said she was particularly heartened that eighth-graders had already embraced the Indian Rock Lane school's 2013-14 theme, "Care for Self and Others," by volunteering to help sixth-graders with their lockers.

"It was great -- the eighth-graders went up to the sixth-graders and said, `Do you need any help with your locker?' " Somers said. "There was a real feeling of empathy and cooperation."

seniors welcome

new year

At Greenwich High, the year kicked off with a significant logistical challenge: no student parking during the first week of classes because of construction of the music instructional space and auditorium complex. But that scenario produced "no major problems," said Greenwich High Headmaster Chris Winters.

Unfazed by the parking inconvenience, Winters said he welcomed the repopulation of the Hillside Road School, as he navigated a hallway full of students shuttling between classes.

"Coming to school in the summer when there are no students or teachers is kind of like going to a job," Winters added. "But now that there are students and teachers back, the energy and excitement is back. It's what I love to do."

Greenwich High, one of the largest high schools in the state, has an enrollment of approximately 2,670 this year.

Within a couple of hours of the opening bell, the social geography of the school cafeteria was already emerging. A septet of male seniors had already staked out a prime table near a window, as they convened during an open block in their schedules.

"There's definitely less stress than last year because I don't have to sit for SATs again," said Eric Thakor. "We don't have to take hard junior-year classes. I think a lot of that weight has been lifted. Once you finish up your (college) applications, it's smooth sailing."